


We Contain Multitudes

by Lancelot_of_the_revolution



Category: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, F/M, Model AU, The blitzstone is canon but not really front and center, because that's just the kind of person i am, famous person au, fashion model!alex fierro, the title is from walt whitman's song of myself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-04
Updated: 2017-03-08
Packaged: 2018-09-22 00:28:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9573839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lancelot_of_the_revolution/pseuds/Lancelot_of_the_revolution
Summary: "Alex Fierro is an American actor and fashion model. She is best known for her dual role as Reyes/Loki in the popular television show "Nine Worlds". Most recently, Fierro has been involved in controversy surrounding a possible friendship and/or relationship between her and Magnus Chase, the adopted son of Fashion designer Blitzen Freyasen"- Wikipedia on Alex Fierro





	1. Blitzen's Best

The cafe smelled, predictably, of coffee, cakes, and impatience. The line to the counter was much longer than it had any right to be at nearly 4 o’clock in the afternoon, but that wasn’t going to stop it. Magnus and Sam waited at the back of the line, with Sam tapping her foot.

 

“Magnus,” she looked toward the window, toward Blitzen’s Best. The store was nationally famous now; maybe even internationally famous. It also happened to be owned by Magnus’ adopted father (though Magnus never thought of Blitz as his dad, more like an older brother) and it was Magnus and Sam’s after school job.

“We’re going to be late,” she said. “I think we can skip the coffee today, don’t you?”

 

Magnus rolled his eyes. “It’s just across the street, we have plenty of time! Besides, Blitz won’t care if we’re a couple seconds late.”

 

The duo stayed in line for another five minutes, but it felt like an eternity. They walked through the doors of Blitzen’s Best four minutes after their shift started. The store seemed normal enough, soft music playing over the speakers, well dressed people milling around, with a clerk’s counter in the back center of the room. Nobody was at the counter, which was a bit odd. Blitz normally had this woman, Emily was her name, manning the register. Magnus figured it was her day off, and Blitz must have been working today. He must be in the back, Magnus thought, so he nodded to Sam and went to see him.

 

Sam and Magnus ducked behind the door labeled “Employees Only” into a sitting room with a couch, a loveseat, a mirror, a coffee table, and just about a lifetime supply of fabric- the lounge. This was where Magnus and Sam spent a fair amount of their time, even when they weren’t working.

 

“Hey, Blitz,” Magnus said as he walked in. “Sorry we’re late, the coffee line was extra long today. Where's Hearth? And how come you aren’t out front?”

 

As soon as he finished his sentence, Sam elbowed Magnus to get his attention. Using her coffee arm, she gestured to the center of the room. Magnus had no idea how he didn’t notice, but the coffee table had been pushed to the side. In its place was a stool with a person standing on top of it- like, a real person, not a mannequin. Blitz was fussing around the waist of this person’s dress, saying something about having to fix a tear.

 

Magnus had never meet this person before, but he would recognize that shock of green hair anywhere- it was the same cut that sat on the heads of about half the kids in his school, the same shade that had become a nationally recognized brand.

 

“Is that…?” Magnus whispered. He was unable to finish the question before Blitz looked up at him.

 

“Sam, Magnus, there you two are! I’d like you to meet Alex Fierro. I’m sure you’ve heard of her- she’ll be doing a photoshoot with us for next week!” Blitz knew damn well that Magnus had heard of her- that everyone had heard of her. That she was probably the most famous model under the age of 18, and that the television show she starred in, _Nine Worlds_ , was the most watched show on TV (and one of Magnus’ personal favorites).

 

She turned around, and sure enough, it was her. Alex Fierro. TV’s Reyes/Loki and the face of Mistletoe Modeling Agency. “Blitzen? Are these your employes?” she threw a questioning look at Magnus, who realized his mouth was hanging open. _Smooth._

 

“Yes, they are,” Blitz said, turning to Alex Fierro, “And they’ll be helping with the photo shoot… I did tell you two about her, right?”

 

Magnus and Sam shook their heads.

 

Blitz frowned. “Oh… Whoops. Anyway, Hearth is sick today, which means I’m back here, which means there’s no one up front- which one of you can handle that for me?” Blitz was a lot more cheerful than usual today. Magnus figured it was because he had managed to hire one of the biggest models in the world to do a photoshoot in one of _his_ designs, which was entirely understandable.

 

Sam looked at Magnus, then at Alex Fierro, then back at Magnus again before raising her hand slightly to indicate that she was volunteering for the position at the front of the store and then leaving the room.

 

“And then there were three,” Alex Fierro noted. She was still standing on her stool, making her the tallest person in the room. Magnus suspected she would be the tallest person in the room even without the stool, but he couldn’t quite tell.

 

“Actually, there were two.” Blitz said, jabbing his thumb toward the door behind him, the door to the back-back, where they kept the actual clothes, “or at least there will be. I need to go get the rest of the clothes. So we can fit them for you. I’ll be right back. Is it okay if Magnus stays with you?”

 

She shrugged, and Blitz left.

 

She hopped off of her stool- not stepped, _hopped,_ like a rabbit- and went to sit on the couch. Her dress reminded Magnus of a ballerina, a silk dress with a fitted green top and loose, flowing, above-knee-length pink skirt. Everyone knew that pink and green were Alex Fierro’s signature colors- she wore them with everything, even on her show.

 

After sitting down on the older-than-dirt couch, Alex Fierro raised an eyebrow at Magnus. “So… are you gonna just stand there and gape at me? Or are you gonna take a seat?”

 

Magnus hadn’t realized he was staring. He turned to the loveseat and sat down. He didn’t say anything. He had no idea what _to_ say. It was up to Alex Fierro to start the conversation- and that she did.

 

“So… you’re Blitzen’s kid?” she asked.

 

“Uh, yeah. Adopted.”

 

“I’d figured.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“You two don’t exactly look alike. And what is he? Two years older than you?” Alex Fierro laughed. The laugh sounded different than the one she had on t.v.. Nicer. Then again, she did play a villain on her show. Her acting laugh was probably evil-sounding on purpose.

 

“Four,” Magnus answered, “He’s four years older than me.”

 

“So you’re 16?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“So am I,” Alex Fierro said.

 

“I know.” Magnus realized how creepy that sounded. “I mean, everyone knows. I mean,” he frowned, unsure what to say.

 

“I got it,” she held her hands out in front of her, as if to say _you can stop now._

 

They sat in silence for another moment.

 

“Blitzen’s designs are pretty genius,” Alex Fierro tried to start the conversation again. At first, Magnus had thought she was just trying to avoid the awkward of a silent room. Now he was wondering if maybe she actually wanted to talk to him? But that couldn’t be. What would Alex Fierro, with all her famous friends, want with him?

 

Magnus nodded, “Yeah, they are. Definitely,”

 

“I mean, there’s a reason his store is known all over the country! It’s a good thing he hired me, because otherwise I would’ve ended up paying him to let me do a photoshoot!”

 

“I mean,” Magnus smirked, “That’s what most people do- pay for the cloths before they use them,”

 

Alex Fierro actually laughed at Magnus’s joke- Magnus tried not to freak out about that- and said “You know what I mean.”

 

Magnus nodded, and the silence came back.

 

Alex Fierro tried one last time to break the pestering silence, “Have you ever thought about modeling?” she asked. Now, she was smiling.

 

Magnus cocked his head. He could swear he’d heard that line a million times over his short lifetime. _Is she hitting on me?_ He thought. _Impossible_. “No, I haven’t,” he said.

 

“Shame,” she said, “With your connections in the fashion industry and your looks, it’d be an easy field for you to get into to.” There was something in her heterochromatic eyes, the look of mischief that had gotten her casted as the teenaged version of Loki in the first place.

 

“My looks, huh?” For what was probably the first time in his life, Magnus couldn’t think of a snarky response. Or, rather, he could, but anyone that he thought of he wasn’t exactly keen on saying outloud.

 

Alex Fierro shrugged, “Yeah, your looks. There is just one thing…” she leaned forward, toward him.

 

He leaned forward too. It was a small room, their faces were only a few feet apart, “What’s that?” he asked

 

“It’s that nose of yours,”

 

He shot back to his original posture, his hand instinctively going up to cover his nose.

 

She laughed, “I’m fucking with you, dude! About the nose thing, at least. Your nose is fine. I wasn’t kidding about the model thing, though- I’m sure my agent would be overjoyed to meet you.”

 

It took Magnus a moment to realize that that meant Alex Fierro still thought he looked good. He shook his head, “Not really my jam,” he said, “But thanks.”

 

“For the offer? Or for the compliment?” she leaned forward again.

 

He did the same. “Both,” he smiled at her.

  
They stayed there for a moment, looking at each other. The silence was no longer unwelcome. Alex Fierro had her eyebrows pushed together, like she was trying to find the answer to a question. Like Magnus was a particularly difficult math problem. They stayed like that until Blitz walked back into the room with his arms full of outfits for Alex Fierro to be fitted for. When that happened, Alex Fierro stood up, going back over to her stool. Magnus sat back up, staying in the loveseat and chatting with Blitz and Alex Fierro until about 20 minutes later, when Sam walked in and asked for help in the front of the store. Even after he left the lounge, all he could think about was Alex Fierro’s two toned eyes and quizzical look.


	2. Learning the Alphabet

Three days after they met, Alex Fierro, Magnus, and Sam were already getting along quite well. They spent whatever time wasn’t already set away for school, work, and other similarly important things hanging out together in the lounge. Magnus and Alex Fierro were sitting on the couch, while Sam sat on the loveseat. They were talking about school- apparently, Alex Fierro was homeschooled, and already going through senior year. 

 

“So they just let you do that? Graduate early like that?” Magnus had asked.

 

“Of course they do. As long as you have the credits- I mean, you two could do the same, if you wanted. summer classes and stuff like that,” he- he was a boy today- said.

 

Sam nodded, “I’ve thought about doing that, but I’m busy enough as it is,” she said. “Work and school and pilots lessons and everything, I don’t need some extra classes on top of that-”

 

“Pilots lessons?” Alex asked.

 

Sam’s face lit up, the way it always did when someone asked her about flying, “Yeah! I’ve been taking them for a couple months!” she said, launching a new conversation just between Sam and 

Alex Fierro about the ins and outs of flying.

 

While they talked, Magnus let his mind wander. Unsurprisingly, it wandered back to the same place it had been going to for the past three days; the conversation he and Alex Fierro had had when they first met, the one where the latter called the former good-looking enough to be a model. 72 hours later, and Magnus still couldn’t figure out if that was flirting or not. They had said stuff like that to each other a couple other times over the half-week, but that was normal, right? Friends did that?

 

He figured he should probably figure out whether or not he wanted Alex Fierro to be flirting with him before he tried to decide if he actually was. He looked over at him, his sparkling two tone eyes and smile that could light up a black hole, and decided without a doubt that yes. He definitely wanted Alex Fierro to be flirting with him. 

 

After about fifteen minutes of that, Magnus was just about driving himself crazy. He got at Alex Fierro’s attention, “Hey,” he said, “This is totally off topic, but do you wanna hang out at my place tomorrow?” Maybe that was a good idea, and maybe it wasn’t, but it was the only idea he had.

 

Alex Fierro looked at him in surprise. “You’re right, that is totally off topic. But sure, that sounds like fun. You’d have to tell me where it is, though,” He hadn’t been to Magnus’s house yet, but he did live in Boston, so he knew his way around. Simple instructions would do just fine.

 

As if on cue, Blitz walked into the lounge to grab something. Magnus turned around to face him, so that he was standing on his knees on the couch cushion with his chin resting on the back rest.

 

Blitz spoke first, “Look at you two back here, doing nothing. Why don't you two get out there and do your jobs?” Magnus and Sam both knew he was just teasing.

 

“Because it’s our day off,” Magnus smiled, “And there’s all those pesky child labor laws to keep you from making us work,”

 

“Ah, those darn laws,” He said.

 

Magnus threw his arms over the back of the couch, so that they were swinging freely, “Hey Blitz, is it okay if Alex Fierro comes over to our apartment tomorrow?” 

 

Blitz nodded, “I don’t mind,” he said, going back out front.

 

Magnus turned back to a normal seated position. 

 

Before he could say anything, Alex Fierro asked, “Why do you do that?”

 

“Do what?”

 

“Call me ‘Alex Fierro’”? You always use my last name when you talk about me. You can just say Alex, you know?” 

 

Magnus hadn’t even realized that he was doing that, but he realized how weird it was. He was so used to thinking of him as  _ famous actor and model, Alex Fierro _ and not  _ kid i’ve spent the last couple days doing homework with and talking to about hiking, Alex _ , That the formal full-name title had just stuck.

 

“Huh. I guess you’re right,” Magnus said.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Instead of knocking on the door, Alex had simply texted  _ i’m here _ . She said it was safer that way, just in case she got the wrong apartment- showing up at a stranger's apartment is embarrassing enough, but when you’re famous it’s even worse. After receiving the text, Magnus went through the living room to get to the front door. Blitz and Hearth were sitting on the couch, watching  _ Nine Worlds _ and arguing about theories in ASL.

 

_ There’s no way Minnie is Frigg!  _

 

_ Why not?! _

 

_ Because Abbi is obviously Frigg! _

 

_ You’re impossible! _

 

Magnus made a note to ask Alex about that particular plot twist later.

 

Despite her paranoia, Magnus opened the door to Alex’s grinning face. He welcomed her in, and flicked the lights to get Blitz and Hearth’s attention. He pointed to Alex. “ _ She’s here,” _ he signed and said at the same time. Hearth waved. Blitz said “Hello.” They went back to their argument, and Magnus went to get him and Alex something to drink.

 

“They know ASL?” Alex asked, once both of them were in the kitchen.

 

“Well, yeah,” Magnus said, “Hearth is deaf, so naturally that’s how he talks. Do you want a Sprite or a Pepsi?” Hearth had had the flu when Alex first visited the store. He was better now, but Blitz had insisted that he stay home for another day or two, to rest. The end result of that was that Alex had yet to meet Hearth, despite each constantly being told about the other.

 

“Pepsi, please. What are they talking about?”

 

“Are you asking me to eavesdrop?” Magnus handed her the Pepsi, taking a Sprite for himself. 

 

Alex smiled.

 

“They’re arguing about your show, actually. Trying to figure out which one of the Erikson High Gang is Frigga reincarnated. Hearth thinks it’s Minnie, Blitz says it’s Abbi,”

 

Alex nodded, “I thought I heard the sound of my own voice,” she said- sure enough, the TV was currently playing an argument between Alex’s character, Reyes (The reincarnation of Loki) and The reincarnation of Thor, a new character named Blair. 

 

“So,” Magnus said, opening his drink, “Which one of them is right?”

 

“There’s no way in Helheim I’m telling you the answer to that question,” Alex laughed, “The producers would kill me!” She frowned, like she was thinking of something. She looked at Magnus. “Hey. When you introduced me, you said she, but you just pointed at me to say it. Is that how you say “she” in asl?”

 

Magnus nodded, “Yeah. you just point at the person that you’re talking about. It’s all the same- She, he, they, it, you either point if they’re there or fingerspell their name if they aren’t.”

 

“So there’s no gendered pronouns in ASL?”

 

Magnus shrugged, “I don’t think so. I mean, if you want you use a gendered word, you normally indicate it by the part of your face the sign happens at,”

 

Alex blinked, “What?”

 

Magnus sat his drink down so that he could explain, “The top of your face is masculine. So this-” He pinched his pointer and thumb together at his hairline, “-means boy. Like you’re grabbing a baseball cap. And this,” he traced his jawline with his thumb, “Means girl, like a bonnet string. So the bottom of your face is feminine. If you’re talking about family members and stuff like that, you do it in relation to gender, so mom and dad are the same sign- hand out like this, thumb pointing at you- but on the top or bottom of your head. Chin for mom, forehead for dad.”

 

Alex nodded, “That makes sense. I think.” She looked back at Hearth and Blitz. They weren’t arguing anymore- or even really conversing aside from the occasional comment on the show. “Can you teach me more? Sign language, I mean,”

 

Magnus sat down at one of the barstools at the kitchen island. “Sure! Um, how about we start with the alphabet, that way you can get your point across with fingerspelling until you learn everything else.”

 

Alex nodded, sitting down across from him. “That works,” she said.

 

Magnus started going through the alphabet, one by one, and showing her the signs for each letter.

 

Blitz elbowed Hearth to get his attention, then pointed to Magnus and Alex. Alex was having trouble remembering the difference between the signs for _P_ and _Q._ _Reminds me of when we first met,_ he signed

 

Hearth nodded.  _ She’s learning faster than you did, _ he noted.

  
Blitz smiled a bit.  _ Maybe that’s my teacher’s fault _ , he signed, causing Hearth to give a playful shove.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be posted on valentines day, then after that I'll go back to posting on Saturdays.
> 
> Which brings me to the question i have for you guys: Would you prefer I continue to update on Saturdays, or that I start posting every Saturday and Wednesday?


	3. conundrum mythology cinema 400000

“I can’t believe your grandparents let you stay the night,” Magnus tossed Sam a pillow and a couple blankets so that she could make herself a cot on the living room floor.

  


“They didn’t- or, they wouldn’t. They don’t actually know that you’re here, Magnus,” Sam explained. Or maybe she thought she was explaining. Magnus and Alex were still confused.

  


Alex frowned, finishing up making her own cot, “This is his apartment, why wouldn’t he be here? Do they think you kicked him out for the night?”

  


Sam shrugged, “They think I’m at your house, Alex. Which is fine with them,”

  


“Do they have something against Magnus or something?”  She got up to make popcorn in the kitchen

  


Magnus shrugged, “I’m a boy, and Sam is a girl,”

  


“Can I make it anymore obvious?” Alex sang, leaning onto the kitchen island so that she could remain a part of the conversation. The other two members of their trio laughed.

  


The coffee table was pushed to the edge of the room so that they could all sit (And, eventually, sleep) on the floor. There was a plate of cookies in the center of the room that hearth had made for them, and a pizza on the table that Blitz had ordered ( _ Don’t cook for those kids, I don’t want to explain to their parents that you killed them with dinner) _ Blitz and Hearth themselves were at Blitzen’s Best, doing some after-hours redecorating, meaning that the three of them had the house to themselves for a couple hours. Magnus pulled up netflix on the PS3.

  


“What should we watch, guys?” He asked

  


Sam pulled a blanket over her lap and grabbed a cookie off the plate, “I think “Nine Worlds” season two is on Netflix now,” she said

  


Alex groaned, “Don’t make me watch myself on t.v.!” she got the popcorn out and started pouring it into a bowl.

  


He was already typing ‘nine’ into the search, “No, it’ll be fun!” he teased, “I mean, how often do you get the chance to hear  _ live _ commentary of a show from the star herself!”

  


Alex rolled her eyes, and sat down between Magnus and sam with the popcorn bowl in her lap. Magnus thought for a second about how he close he and Alex were, how he could feel the warmth of Alex’s side against his own, but he pushed the thought from his mind. Mostly.

  


“I’m not even the star, Magnus, I’m the antagonist”

  


Sam snorted, “The internet seems to think you’re the star,” she said, “They just adore you!”

  


“They adore Reyes and Loki. There’s a difference,” She rolled her eyes as the opening theme of ‘Nine World’ started playing. The volume was way too loud, and Magnus had to scramble to find the remote to turn it down.

  


“Not to them,” Sam laughed.

  


The episode opened with a shot of a shot of Erikson High, the school attended by the main characters. A quick “Previously on” sequence showed shots from the season one finale: a scene of Loki and Buldr arguing flipping to a scene of Reyes complaining about a new girl in school, Pari. Blair drunkenly tossing his arm around Reyes’ shoulder and telling her about a plot among some of the other students. Elliot turning to his twin sister Vanna and dramatically announcing his suspicion that they are actually Frey and Freya.

  


“God, that line felt so forced,” Alex whispered.

  


“And so the commentary begins,” Sam smiled.

  


Magnus laughed, “I’ve always wondered what it felt like to be a character in ‘mystery science theater 3000’”

  


“Nerd” Sam whispered

  


Reyes/Alex flopped onto her bed in exasperation, “She just thinks she’s so perfect!” She practically shouted to Blair, who was leaning against her wall, listening to her complain, “Stupid Pari with her stupid grades and her stupid singing and her stupid cheerleading uniform and her stupid everything!”

  


Blair laughed, “I don’t think her cheerleading uniform is so stupid,” he said, “And neither does, oh, the entire school? You’re the only one who has a problem with her, Rey!”

  


Reyes threw a pillow at Blair, “Don’t tell me  _ you’re _ under her stupid spell, too!” She whined.

  


Blair shrugged, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were the one under her ‘spell’. All you’ve done since she showed up is talk about her!”

  


“About how much I hate her!”

  


Magnus whispered, “I ship it,”

  


Alex nodded, “Me too,”

  


Reyes shook her head, as if the very idea disgusted her, “I’m telling you, there’s something about her! I don’t trust her!”

  


The scene switched, and they were on asgard. Loki/Alex sat hunched in a corner as Thor (played by the same actor who played Blair, but with makeup to make him look older) stood next to him. The rest of the gods were laughing their heads off as Buldr (Played by Pari’s actress, with even more makeup then Thor) told them all jokes. 

  


“It’s ridiculous,” Loki groaned, “He’s not that great, you know! But they all love him!” 

  


Thor shrugged, and looked longingly at the crowd- he obviously wanted to join the party, “I don’t see why you hate Buldr so much. What has he done to you?” 

  


Loki seemed to ignore the question, choosing instead to throw his arms up in exasperation, “I bet he’s a lousy warrior, too! I could probably take him in a fight!”

  


Thor laughed out loud at that one, “No one can take him in a fight, Loki! He’s invincible, remember?”

  


Loki gave a grim nod, “Oh, I remember,”

  


Reyes and Blair walked through the hallways together. Reyes Was wearing a mint green pin with “He/Him” printed on it. 

  


Sam turned to Alex, “Why don’t you have some of those?” she asked, “The pins?”

  


Alex shrugged, “I’ve been meaning to get some. Maybe I’ll steal some from the set,”

  


Pari was walking in the opposite direction, talking to a group of friends. Reyes, glared at her, and, in a split second decision, stuck his foot out to trip her. 

  


Pari landed flat on her face. The next shot was Reyes and Pari in the principal’s office, Pari with a bandage on her nose and Reyes with his arms crossed over his chest.

  


Alex grabbed the PS3 remote and fast forwarded through the entire sequence, “Nope! No!" she said, "I hate my acting in this scene, we are  _ not  _ watching it!”

  


Sam shrugged, saying that she had already seen this episode, anyway. Magnus thought about complaining, but didn’t.

  


Pari sat with her best friend, Alan. they were walking through the park.

  


“I just don’t see why she hates me so much!” Pari exclaimed, “What have I ever done to her?!”

  


“You haven’t done anything to anybody, Pari! You’re the nicest person I know!”

  


Pari smiled, “I’m so glad I have you for a friend, Al,” she said, putting her hand on his shoulder. 

  
Alex gagged, “That’s so fucking cheesy!” she complained as the screen faded to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy Valentines day, you guys! My gift to you is.... world building? Yeah. So basically Nine Worlds is a show about the Norse gods being reincarnated as high school students, and the stories both in original form, with the gods themselves, and in modern day form, are shown side by side. It was sort of my way of incorporating the influence of the gods into our characters lives. 
> 
> This episode is the first part of the story of Buldr. I think it was hinted at in the books (I don't remember) But basically it's a story of murder that turned Loki from a class-clown trickster god to a god of chaos and evil. Fun for the whole family!
> 
> Next update will be on feb. 18! thank you for reading!


	4. A Phonecall

It was saturday. Alex’s last day working with Blitz. (Apparently, her and Blitz’s definition of “week” was only 6 days.) Magnus was sitting on a folding chair, watching the photoshoot. These pictures would be in magazines soon; Magnus supposed he was sort of lucky to be one of the first ones to see them. Word had already gotten out about the shoot, and kids at school were constantly asking him about it- “ _ Is it true that you’re friends with Alex Fierro?!”  _ and things like that. Magnus never really knew how to answer that question. He didn’t know if they were actually friends, or if they would just stop talking after the photoshoot was over. He certainly hoped they wouldn’t drift apart.

 

He looked over to Alex. She was talking to the cameraman, saying something Magnus couldn’t hear. Alex was famous. She had famous friends. She didn’t need Magnus tagging along, completely unfamiliar with their lifestyle. Staying with friends was a nice thought, but Magnus figured it was near impossible.

 

Then there was the other half of the question- was Magnus even allowed to tell others about Alex? She was really big on privacy, for obvious reasons. 

 

The questions about Alex tended to go unanswered.

 

Alex, apparently, was done conversing with the camera man because she sauntered her way over to Magnus’ chair.

 

“The shoot’s done,” she announced, leaning onto the arm of the chair.

 

“So that means you won’t be working with Blitz anymore?”

 

Alex shrugged. “Maybe. I’d be more than happy to do another shoot in his next line, if he lets me.” 

 

“Oh, I promise, he’ll let you. I mean, for right now?”

 

Alex pulled an empty chair over to sit down. “Yeah, for right now I’m done. Is something wrong?” 

 

Magnus shrugged. “I don’t know. If you aren’t working with Blitz anymore, I guess that means we can’t really hang out, right?”

 

Alex looked incredibly confused, “It doesn’t mean that at all. Not unless you want it to? We’re still friends, Magnus!”

 

Magnus’ face lit up. “I just thought that since you weren’t gonna hanging around Blitzen’s Best anymore, we wouldn’t really have a way to talk.”

 

“Who said I wasn’t going to be hanging around Blitzen’s Best? Talking to you and Alex all week has been the highlight of my month! Besides, you have my phone number, right? We can just text.”

 

Magnus frowned. “Actually, I don’t. You never gave me your number.”

 

Alex paused. “That’s weird. I gave it to Sam. Here-” She held out her hand for Magnus’ phone, and Magnus gave it to her. A moment later, she handed it back. She had made a contact for herself:

 

_ A.Fierro  _ with a pink heart and a green heart. She had taken a picture of herself making a silly face to use for the contact photo. 

 

“If you show anyone that photo i’ll strangle you,” she warned.

 

Magnus laughed, but he had a feeling she wasn’t totally joking. “I won’t, I swear,” he said.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Magnus was laying on his bed, watching  _ Doctor Who _ on Netflix and texting Alex. All in all, a pretty good time.

 

**Alex** : Hey, can i call you?

 

**Magnus:** is something wrong?

 

**Alex:** No, i’m just gonna be cleaning 

 

**Alex:** And i can’t text and clean at the same time

 

**Alex:** Hence the phonecall

 

**Magnus:** ok ok! Just stop with the double texting, lol. Also who says hence?

 

Magnus’ phone started ringing almost immediately after he pressed send.

 

“ _ I _ say hence!” Alex laughed.

 

“Why are you cleaning?” Magnus paused his show and stood up to pace around his room as he talked.

 

“Because my house is dirty, Magnus. Why else would one clean?”

 

“I mean, don’t you have maids for that?” 

 

“I used to. I fired her. It weirded me out to have someone else cleaning my house, you know?”

 

“You’re the strangest teenager I know.”

 

Alex laughed again. Magnus could listen to that laugh all day. “And the reason why is because I clean my own room?”

 

“There can be more than one reason to think you’re weird!” Magnus said, “You do know that was how that maid made a living, right?”

 

“Of course I know that. I didn't really fire her- I just told her not to come back. Mistletoe Modeling is still paying for her to clean my house, she’s just not doing anything. She’s a single mom, and they can afford it,” she explained. “Anyway, I didn’t call you to tell you my Robin Hood stories-”

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“Certain. I called you to ask if you wanted to go an art exposition to with me next weekend.”

 

“An art exposition?”

 

“Yeah. Some of my pottery is gonna be on display. I wanted to know if you would come along?”

 

Magnus remembered that Alex was into pottery- they had talked about it before. He poked his head out of his bedroom door. Blitz was down the hall, in the kitchen. “Hey, Blitz!” Magnus called. He leaned over the island so that he could see Magnus down the hall. 

 

“Are we doing anything next weekend?” Magnus asked

 

Blitz shook his head. 

 

Magnus called again, “Okay, I’m gonna go to hang out with Alex, then! We’re going to an art exposition!”

 

Blitz gave a thumbs up.

 

“Yeah, I can.”

 

“I heard. Maybe next time, take the phone away from your face when you start shouting?” Alex sounded only mildly annoyed.

 

“Whoops.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Later that night, Magnus and Hearth were sitting on the couch together, only half paying attention to the TV. It was a rerun, anyway. 

 

Hearth tapped on Magnus’ arm to get his attention.  _ You are going to the art show with A-l-e-x? _

 

Magnus nodded.  _ Blitz told you? _

 

_ Yes.  _ Hearth paused, thinking of what to say. He finally signed,  _ You like Alex _ .

 

Magnus thought about saying something like,  _ Of course I do! She’s my friend! _ And playing dumb. But he knew what Hearth meant. He nodded.

 

Hearth nodded, too.  _ I thought so.  _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my bata, @Gsnkhurray on tumblr! Next update will be on Feb.22!


	5. The Art Show

Magnus was sitting on the couch when he got the text.

 

**Alex:** I’m in the parking lot

**Alex:** p.s. He/Him today

 

So Magnus told Blitz and Hearth he was leaving and nearly sprinted down the stairs to the parking lot.

 

“You’re kidding me.” Magnus stood on the sidewalk outside his apartment building. In front of him was a shamrock Volkswagen Beetle with Alex Fierro behind the wheel. “Even your  _ car _ is green?!”

 

Alex rolled his eyes, even though he was smiling, “Can you maybe get in the car before you start questioning my life choices? There’s a lot to question and I’d like to get there before New Year’s.”

 

Magnus laughed and climbed in the passenger seat. “Isn’t there a point where the color scheme gets to be too much?” he asked as they left the parking lot.

 

“If there is, I haven’t found it.”

 

Alex, as it turned out, was a horrible driver. Magnus couldn’t imagine how he managed to get a license with how reckless he was, how many stop signs he missed, and how many turn signals he forgot to turn on. He made sure he knew this when they got out of the car.

 

“Alex, you’re a horrible driver.”

 

“I’d like to see you do better,” Alex laughed.

 

“I’m sure I could! You’re in a good mood today,” he noted.

 

Alex nodded. “I guess I am. Maybe I’m just excited for the art show.” He flashed a smile at Magnus, one of those grins that could light up an arctic winter. “Have you ever been to an art show before, Maggie?”

 

Magnus wrinkled his nose at the nickname and shook his head. “No, I haven’t,” he said. The two of them walked together toward the show. It was held outside, on a downtown street, a couple of blocks away from where they were parked. 

 

“Okay,” Alex said as they walked, “I gotta ask. Are Blitz and Hearth a thing?”

 

“Hm? Oh, yeah,” Magnus nodded, “I thought it was pretty obvious.” If nothing else, Magnus figured the way they talked about each other would have been a tip off. 

 

Alex shrugged. “It was, but I didn’t wanna assume, you know? ‘Ass out of you and me’, and all that. Are they married?”

 

Magnus laughed, “I think they’re probably waiting until they can serve champagne at the ceremony,” he said

 

“What?”

 

“Blitz is only twenty, remember? He can’t actually legally drink yet. And Hearth turned twenty-one, what… six months ago? The point of the story is they’re young. They’re engaged, though- Hearth proposed at the grand opening of Blitzen’s Best,” Magnus smiled without even realizing it.

 

“That’s nice. They’re cute together.” Alex took a left, so that he was on the block with the art show, 

 

Magnus was only a couple of steps behind him, and he quickly caught up so that they were side by side again. 

 

“So,” Alex started, “How did you end up with them?”

 

Magnus hesitated, choosing to look at a painting instead of making eye contact. That was a loaded question.

 

“I-”

 

“Fuck. I’m sorry,” Alex cut him off, almost like he could read his mind.

 

“What?” Magnus turned back to her. She looked guilty.

 

“That’s a bad topic,” she said, and when Magnus didn’t respond, she explained, “I saw it on your face- bad memories. Or something. I don’t know.” He shook his head, the way someone does when they’re shooing a fly. “But it looked like you didn’t want to talk about it. I won’t make you.” He looked really sincere.

 

Magnus hadn’t even realized he’d made a face. “No, no, it’s fine,” he said, “You’re right, though. There’s… a lot there I don’t really wanna think about. I can give you the short version, though, if you want,” he offered.

 

Alex nodded, “As long as you’re okay with it, Maggie.”

 

Magnus took a deep breath, ignoring the nickname once again. “My mom…” He bit the inside of his cheek. “She died when I was fourteen.” His family was tangled in with the mafia. His mom had tried to avoid it, but it didn’t work. They framed him for the murder. “I had to live on the street for about a year. That’s where I met Hearth.” Hearth was a runaway- well, kind of. He was 19 at that point, an adult. He still had to run away, though. To escape his parents. Magnus had never gotten the full story there, and he wasn’t sure he wanted it. It was Hearth’s to give away in the first place, and he wasn’t going to ask questions if Hearth didn’t want to answer them. Besides, based on what he did know, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to keep himself from tracking down Hearth’s dad and giving him a piece of his mind if he  _ did _ know everything. Hearth wouldn’t want that. 

 

“He got sick…” Hearth was anemic. Iron deficiency, not sickle cell. Magnus figured it best not to give out Hearth’s medical information to Alex, though. Seemed like an invasion of privacy. “He sort of… passed out outside Blitz’s apartment,”

 

“Passed out?” Alex frowned

 

“From being sick. It would have been worse, if Blitz hadn’t called an ambulance. Hearth got treatment, and that should have been that, right? Except it wasn’t. Because Blitz took us in. He let us stay in his apartment- Temporarily, at first, but then it became permanent. We’re a family now.” 

 

He took another deep breath. “And that’s where things lighten up. Blitz was working at this cafe, saving up to buy a store to sell his clothes- He had been doing that for a while. See, Blitz always wanted to be a fashion designer. He went to school for it and everything. Hearth and I managed to get jobs there, at the cafe, too. I even went back to school- It took me forever to get caught back up, but I did it. Finally, a building a couple of blocks away went up for sale. We had saved up almost enough to buy it, but it we were running out of time, and it didn’t look like we were gonna get there. Until Blitz got an email. It said something along the lines of, ‘I like your designs. I wanna see them made into something. Check your bank account, and make sure to use that wisely.’ Sure enough, when he checked, there was an extra quarter million in there.”

 

Alex gasped. “Who gave it to him?”

 

Magnus shrugged. “We don’t know! The email address was just a jumble of letters with ‘yahoo’ at the end! But they made Blitzen’s Best possible, and now Blitz has his dream achieved.”

 

“I’m glad they did that. I’m serious, Blitz’s designs are genius- I’ve said that already, but it’s true. I’m glad the world got to see them.”

 

Magnus nodded, “Me too.” He looked around- they had walked as they talked, wandering through the art show without actually looking. “I wasn’t paying attention to any of that,” Magnus frowned, then laughed, “I kinda feel bad. We should turn back, so we can see everything,”

 

Alex nodded, smiling too. “Yeah, me either.”

 

They turned back around, retracing their steps. Magnus looked at Alex, “So… pottery.” It was sort of difficult to restart a conversation after one had already ended.

 

But, Alex seemed eager to do it because his face lit up. “What about it?”

 

“You’ve mentioned it before,” Magnus said- some conversation in the lounge, Magnus didn’t even remember the context, “But I didn’t realize you were serious about it.” Magnus hadn’t even realized what he was talking about when he mentioned it- he had thought Alex said “Poetry” at first. 

 

“Why’s that?” Magnus couldn’t tell if he was teasing him or actually curious.

 

Magnus shrugged. “You didn’t really strike me as a pottery sort of person, I guess?”

 

“What does that even mean?” 

 

Magnus shook his head. “I don’t know…” He didn’t. “I guess it just surprised me.”

 

Alex laughed, “Well, what sort of person  _ did _ I strike you as?”

 

“I guess… I guess I always associated you with your character on TV? And pottery, I think- I’ve never done it- is pretty messy. It’s not really a ‘model’ sort of hobby.” He realized he was digging himself into a hole about halfway through the first sentence, but for some reason he just kept going. He picked up a necklace off a table. Leather string, with a white pendent. The pendant had some symbol on it Magnus didn’t recognize. He sat it back down.

 

Alex wrinkled his nose, “I’m not Reyes or Loki. And just because i’m a model doesn’t mean I’m anything like what people think models are like- or that any other model is, for that matter!”

 

Magnus laughed, “Well, I know that  _ now _ !” he said, “But I didn’t then! I mean, I knew it. But I didn’t  _ know _ it,” He just kept digging deeper and deeper.

 

Alex inspected a piece of embroidery. “‘I contain multitudes,’” he said, simply.

 

“What?”

 

He turned back to face Magnus. “‘I contain multitudes’! It’s a Walt Whitman quote.”

 

“I know, I also passed 10th grade english.” Barely. That was when he was catching up on school. “I’m asking why you brought him up.”

 

“Because it seemed like a good thing to say? People aren’t always what you first think they are. They’re never exactly what you think they are. ‘ Do I contradict myself?/Very well then I contradict myself,/(I am large, I contain multitudes.)’. It’s out of context. But I like it better that way- with my own meaning. Besides, I’m not going to memorize all of ‘Song of Myself’, am I?”

 

Magnus shook his head, “No, I guess not.”

 

Alex switched topics without prompt, “I’m hungry right now,” he said.

 

“What?”

 

“I said ‘I’m hungry’. That mean’s I want food. Human beings need food to survive, Magnus. Is this a concept that you’re new to?”

 

Magnus rolled his eyes. “I knew what you meant, it was a surprised ‘what’. What do you want to eat?”

 

Alex pointed to the north. “There’s food trucks over there.” 

 

Now that he thought about it, Magnus was pretty hungry, too. He looked where Alex was pointing. 

 

“Hell yes!” he said, practically jumping up and down. “There’s a Falafel truck!” 

 

Alex looked like he was trying to frown, but couldn’t because he was already smiling. “Falafel?”

 

Instead of answering, Magnus just grabbed Alex’s hand and lead him to the food trucks. 

  
He didn’t know if Alex expected him to let go when they got to the truck. He didn’t know if he expected Alex to let go when they got to the table. He did know that when he did let go to eat, he wished he didn’t have to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks to my beta! The next update will be on feb. 25th! I hope y'all enjoyed!!!


	6. A Turn of Events

Magnus was eating whatever the school was passing off as meat loaf when Sam slammed something down in front of him.

 

“You’re late,” he said- normally Sam was at the lunch table before he was.

 

Sam ignored him. “Look,” she jabbed her finger at whatever it was she had dropped, calling magnus’s attention down to it.

 

It was a supermarket tabloid, nothing that Magnus would have noticed if it wasn’t pointed out to him. The only unusual thing about it was the picture on the front. It was him.

 

And Alex.

 

It must have been taken at the art show- He was dragging Alex along by the hand, both of them laughing. 

 

‘Teenaged Model’s New Boyfriend?’ was written in bold across the bottom. Alex was not going to like this.

 

“Fuck,” Magnus whispered.

 

Sam sat down across from him, so that they were facing each other, “It’s not true, right?” she asked.

 

Magnus shook his head. “No! No. It’s totally out of context.” 

 

Sam nodded. “That’s what I thought. That’s the problem. Alex is going to be mad,” she frowned.

 

Magnus shrugged, despite the fact that he was already thinking the same thing, “It’s just a stupid rumor. People will get tired of it in a week or two and move onto something else.” 

 

“I don’t know if she’ll see it that way,” Sam shrugged. “Anyway, do you still need help on that geometry homework?”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Alex hadn’t said she was going to be coming over. She hadn’t said anything, actually. She wasn’t returning Magnus’ texts. Magnus was starting to wonder if maybe Alex was mad at  _ him _ about the tabloid. 

 

Until, right as he was sitting down, someone knocked on the door. Magnus opened the door see Alex Fierro with one hand in her hair in the universal “I’m stressed” sort of fashion and the other hand occupied by a copy of the same tabloid Sam had slammed on Magnus’ table earlier that day. She pushed her way into his apartment.

 

“Hello,” Magnus deadpanned as she started pacing through his living room. “How are you? I’m fine, thank you for asking. I had a bit of an accident in chemistry class today, but it was no big deal.”

 

Alex gave an exasperated sigh, “This isn’t really- wait a minute,” she turned to face him, “Are you telling me you pissed yourself in chemistry class?”

 

Magnus stared at her for a moment before realizing what she meant, “What?! No! I accidentally knocked over a bunsen burner and set Mr .Poe’s notebook on fire. It’s fine, though. No one got hurt. Anyway, why are you freaking out in my living room?”

 

Alex marched over to Magnus, so that they were facing each other at only a couple feet apart. She slammed the tabloid on the kitchen island and then went back to pacing. People seemed to like tossing around magazines today, Magnus thought. Maybe it’s just the dramatic effect. “Because I messed up, Magnus! Now you’re gonna be roped into stupid hollywood drama you shouldn’t have to deal with because of me.”

 

Magnus took a moment to process what was going on: Alex had seen the headline. Alex was mad about the headline. Alex was mad because she thought she had upset Magnus. Magnus, honestly, didn’t even see the big deal, “Alex, I don’t understand why you’re so upset about this.”

 

Alex didn’t seem to understand why he wasn’t. “I just told you, Maggie! You’re gonna get rumours spread about you left and right because of this. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but having people talk about you all the time like this? Kind of a pain in the ass.” She huffed the last part out, like she was talking more to herself than to him.

 

He shook his head, “I don’t really care that much, Alex. It’s not a big deal!”

 

Alex stopped in front of him again, “You can’t tell me the people at your school aren’t talking about this,” she said.

 

“Well, they are- but people have been talking about me since I started this school. I’m used to it- formally homeless adopted son of a fashion designer, remember? There’s a lot to talk about. Anyway, it doesn’t bother me. There are worse things for people to say than that I’m dating a model. In fact, When I first saw the headline, I was mostly worried about how you’d feel about it.” There  _ were _ plenty of comments, sure, but the only one’s that really got to him were jabs about Alex’s gender. And those only bothered him because of the bigotry in them.

 

Alex frowned. “So you’re not mad at me?”

 

Magnus nearly laughed out loud at that one, “Absolutely not!” 

 

She exhaled in relief. “Thank god,” she said. Then she whispered something so quiet Magnus almost didn’t hear it- “I was so worried I’d messed this up.”

 

Magnus looked at Alex. Her hair was messed up from running her hands through it so many times. There was a strand of green sticking straight up from her forehead like a lopsided unicorn horn, right above her left eye. She was still chewing on the inside of her cheek, still nervous. Still upset. 

 

“Hey, Alex.” It was now or never.

 

“Yeah?” Never would be easier but it wasn’t what Magnus wanted.

 

“That tabloid. What they’re saying,” There had to be better ways to do this. Magnus couldn’t think of any.

 

“That we’re dating?” definitely better ways. A thousand came to mind in an instant. There was no turning back now.

 

“What do you think of that idea?” This sort of thing was never Magnus’ strong suit, and he sure was proving that point now.

 

Alex didn’t speak at first.

 

“Because if i’m going to be honest, I have to say I like it. The idea, I me-” Magnus- thank God- couldn’t talk anymore.

 

Because Alex had grabbed onto the placket of his flannel shirt and pulled him up toward her face. 

 

And Alex Fierro was kissing him. 

 

The first thing that Magnus thought was  _ she smells like peppermint  _ and Magnus didn't know if it was perfume or if she had been chewing gum earlier but, he thought, it fits. It fits because she even  _ smells  _ like something green. 

 

He was stepping backwards now, without realizing that it was Alex who was guiding him, still kissing him as she pushed him against the living room wall. She had let go of his shirt now, her hands flat on his chest. 

 

He wrapped one arm around her waist, and his other hand tangled itself in her hair. 

 

_ Blitz and Hearth are home, _ he thought,  _ just in the other room. This would be so fucking embarrassing if one of them walked out right now _ . 

 

But then Alex let one hand trail up to cup his jaw, pulling him closer to her, and he didn't care about anyone seeing them anymore. 

 

Because he was kissing Alex Fierro. 

 

And  Alex Fierro smelled like peppermint and rose-scented perfume, and her sweater vest was scratching his arm as he held her, but he didn't care because that didn't matter because Alex Fierro was kissing him and that was all that mattered in the entire world. 

 

She finally pulled away, but she didn't step back. They stayed that way, with their foreheads pressed together, totally silent apart from the sound of their breathing, until she said, “So I guess it's not just a rumor anymore, huh?”

 

“No it's not,” Magnus said, and they still didn't move. 

 

Magnus was right, though. A few moments later, Blitz did walk out of his room. 

 

He paused to give them a once over, Magnus against the wall, arms wrapped around each other, faces together. 

 

He put both hands out in front of him in a ‘don't say a word’ gesture, “I don't know what I'm interrupting but I'm gonna leave it alone, “ he said, turning into the kitchen. He grabbed a soda and was back in his room a moment later. 

 

Magnus laughed and Alex stepped back, scratching the back of her neck in a ‘that was awkward’ sort of way. 

 

“So… we're dating now,” Magnus noted. He couldn't think of anything else to say. 

“I would certainly hope so,” Alex said. She was smiling. 

 

Magnus took a step toward Alex, taking her hand, “not to be rude, but what do I call you?” he asked. Alex looked confused, so Magnus explained further. “I mean, you can't be my girlfriend, because you aren't always a girl. Or my boyfriend, because you aren't always a boy. So what do I call you?”

 

Alex shrugged. “Um… significant other? Partner? Paramore? Datemate?” Alex tried to think of another one. 

 

“Datemate!” Magnus said, “I like that one.” He wasn't going to say it out loud, but he kinda thought it sounded like a doctor Seuss animal. Datemate. 

 

Alex smiled at him- God, that smile could make the sun look dull, “Datemate it is, then.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to update early today because i'll be at my friend's house tomorrow and I /really/ didn't want to miss posting this chapter. Next update will be on the first of march, back to the normal schedule! Thank you for reading!


	7. Wikipedia

A school week had passed since Alex and Magnus had started dating, and it was Saturday now. 

 

The day after the tabloid incident, Alex had shown up at Magnus’ school. Well, a block away from Magnus’ school.

 

“Where’s your car?” Was the first thing Magnus said.

 

“Hello to you, too,” Alex responded. “It’s at my house, I walked here,” she explained, “I wanted to ask you something, actually, and I thought showing up in your house uninvited would be creepy-”

 

“But showing up at my school isn’t?”

 

“Right! And you don’t work today, so I couldn’t find you a Blitzen’s Best, so this is the only place I could go! I’m sure you understand.”

 

“No, not really,” Magnus said, “I’m pretty sure cell phones exist, you could have totally just called me to let me know you’d be at my apartment or something,”

 

Alex shook her head, “No, I couldn’t! I wanted this to be a surprise!”

 

“A surprise?”

 

“Yes, a surprise! Because  _ I  _ am asking  _ you _ on a  _ date _ !” She spread her arms wide on the last word, and threw out a winning smile.

 

Magnus smiled back; he couldn’t pretend he wasn’t excited at the idea of a date with Alex. “Oh really? Where are you planning on having this date?”

 

“That’s also a surprise! I’ll tell you on Saturday. Which is when our date will be. I’m just letting you know so you can clear your schedule.”

 

“Well, okay then, consider it cleared,” Magnus had said. Alex had walked home with him that day.

  
  


Five days later and Saturday had rolled around. Magnus woke up to a text:

 

**Alex** : I’m still not telling you where we’re going

**Alex** : but I will tell you the dress code

**Alex** : Nice. Like a suit or something.

**Alex:** Also: He/Him today

 

Nice.

 

Nice?

 

What was nice?

 

Magnus stood at his closet door. Lots of jeans. Lots of T-shirts. Lots of plaid. Definitely not a lot of  _ nice. _ He looked around his room, then over toward the door.  _ Duh, _ he thought to himself,  _ I know exactly where to find  _ nice  _ clothes.  _ He made his way down the hallway to the living room.

 

Blitz and Hearth were sitting on the couch, side by side. The TV was off, and they were both on their phones. Every minute or so one of their phones would buzz- they were texting each other, apparently. 

 

“Hey,” Magnus said, causing Blitz to look up, which caused Hearth to look up as well. 

 

Magnus continued, “I need help. What are you supposed to wear on a date?”

 

Hearth sat his phone down on the couch next to him,  _ Clothes, I assume. _

 

Magnus rolled his eyes, “Thanks, smartass. I was asking Blitz.” 

 

Hearth shrugged and went back to his phone. Blitz took the opportunity to talk, “It depends on where you’re going, kid. Has she told you yet?” 

 

“He,” Magnus corrected without even thinking, “And no. But he told me to wear a suit. Which is why I’m asking you- I don’t own any suits,”

 

Blitz frowned. “You don’t? Huh. Alright,” he nudged Hearth to get his attention,  _ We are going to my store. Be back soon.  _ He signed before standing up, “Come one, kid, we gotta leave now if we’re gonna get back before your date.”

 

Magnus had told Blitz and Hearth about Alex asking him out the day that it happened, so they both already knew what this was all about. In just over an hour's time, Magnus had a new suit pulled right from the shelves of Blitzen’s Best. Blitz lamented about how it was a shame they didn’t have time to tailor it for him, but magnus didn’t really see the point- The suit seemed to fit him just fine. He hadn’t worn one since he was seven years old and his mom dragged him to the wedding of some family friend he didn’t really know, so he hadn’t actually seen himself- his sixteen year old self- in a suit before now. He looked  _ good _ . Different than normal, yes. A little awkward. But still good. The suit was simple, black with a dark blue shirt. Honestly? It kinda made Magnus feel like a movie star. 

 

They got back to the apartment twenty minutes before Alex was supposed to pick him up- enough time for magnus to get dressed and brush his hair before he left.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Magnus thought  _ he  _ looked nice in a suit, but Alex was something else entirely. He stepped out of the driver's seat of his Volkswagen, after pulling up in front of the restaurant. He had driven Magnus there, but Magnus hadn’t gotten a chance to fully see him until now that he was standing up. His suit was dark emerald green with a soft pink shirt. It was one of Blitz’s designs colored for Alex and tailored perfectly for him. Magnus thought Alex looked like a disney prince.

 

“Are you gonna keep staring at me all night?” Alex raised an eyebrow at him, “Or can we go inside?”

 

Magnus didn’t see why those two were mutually exclusive, “Let’s go inside,” he said

 

The restaurant was nicer than any Magnus had ever seen, only made weird by the people staring at the couple as they walked to their table. They pretended like they weren’t, but Magnus could tell. 

 

“I don’t see how you can get used to that,” Magnus whispered as he sat down across from Alex.

 

“Get used to what?”

 

“People… looking at you. All the time,” Magnus explained. “They’re always staring when you’re around.”

 

Alex shrugged, “Yeah, it’s weird. But it’s easier to ignore it- I mean, don’t ignore people when they try to talk to you or whatever, but ignore the staring. I’m surprised you don’t have that problem,” he noted.

 

Magnus made a face, “Why would I?”

 

“You’re the son of a fashion designer and you’re dating a model. Face it, dude, you’re kinda famous. People probably recognize you all the time and you don’t even notice!”

 

Magnus rolled his eyes, “I’m not  _ famous _ , Alex,”

 

Alex rolled his eyes back, imitating Magnus’ tone, “You are  _ famous, _ Magnus! I mean, even before we met I knew who you were,” he pointed out.

 

“No you didn’t,” Magnus frowned. “You literally asked who I was twice. First you asked if I worked for Blitz, then you asked if I was his kid. Obviously you didn’t know who I was.”

 

Alex waved his hand as if to wave away the topic, “I knew your name, not your face. I recognized you as soon as Blitz said ‘Magnus’.”

 

Magnus was persistent, “I’m not famous, Alex! I don’t even have a Wikipedia article!”

 

Alex frowned, “What?”

 

“You aren’t famous unless there's a Wikipedia article about you, which I don’t have. Argument settled.”

 

“Number one, this isn’t an argument.”

 

“It’s an argument, but go on.”

 

“It’s not an argument. Please don’t let this be our first argument as a couple. This is such a lame first argument!”

 

“Agreed, but it’s still an argument,” Magnus smirked, “What’s your number two?”

 

Alex huffed, not willing to lose the debate but also not wanting to lose track of the original point, “Number two: how do you know there’s no wikipedia article about you? Have you ever checked?”

 

Magnus frowned, “No… I guess not.”

 

Alex pulled out his phone, already typing, “Let's find out,”

 

The server came back with their drinks while Alex’s phone was loading the search results. Alex read aloud after the server left;

 

“‘Magnus Chase is the adopted son of fashion designer Blitzen Freyasen. He was born in Boston, MA, and currently resides there. He is rumoured to be dating Alex Fierro. This biographical article is a  [ stub ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Stub) . You can help Wikipedia by  [ expanding it ](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Bio-stub&action=edit) _. _ Hear that, Maggie? You’re famous. There’s the proof!” He turned the phone around so that Magnus could see the article- sure enough, there he was. The picture they had used was poorly cropped and blurry, like a picture of a cryptid. It was him sitting next to blitz at some runway event he had tagged along on, but Blitz was cropped out. 

 

“Well shit,” Magnus said.

 

“There it is! I win!”

 

“I thought this wasn’t an argument?” Magnus leaned his head in his hand, “How can you win something that’s not an argument?”

 

Alex shrugged, “It’s a debate, then. And I won!” He smiled.

 

The rest of the meal was rather uneventful, The flow of conversation going just the same as it had before they started dating. After they finished they left the restraint, as anyone would do. 

 

Alex took Magnus’ hand as they stood outside the door. It was dark, but streetlights and store fronts made it look like  “Alright, Magnus, we have options here,” He said. He swung his foot a bit as he talked, kicking it back and forth without letting it hit the ground, “Do you wanna walk around downtown for a bit, have me take you home now, or come hang out at my house for a bit before I take you home?”

 

Magnus smiled, looking up at the sky. You couldn’t really see any stars because of light pollution, but the moon was beautiful.

  
“I think I’d like to see your house,” he said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next ch will be up on the 4th! It will go on from about where this chapter left off, so they'll be at Alex's house. I will tell you now: This story will keep it's t rating, no need to worry about that. I hope you enjoyed!! As always, thanks to my beta!


	8. Alex's House

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you go on: This chapter includes information on Alex's past, which sadly includes some mention of transphobia. I go into no more detail than Rick Riordan does in the second book, but just in case that's not something you're okay with reading (Which I totally get!) here's your warning.

“Alright,” Alex said, putting his keys on the hook by the door, “I have to be right back. Just stay here for a second and I’ll show you around when I get back. Try not to rob me or anything,” He half walked, half ran down toward a hallway, presumably toward his room.

 

Magnus looked around the foyer while he waited. Even knowing he was a model, Magnus couldn’t ever really picture Alex in a mansion. It just wasn’t  _ Alex _ . But this place was unmistakably Alex’s home- from the handmade pottery on the shelves to the potted plants littering every corner to the framed paintings depicting beautifully detailed landscapes from all over the world lining the walls not only in this room but down the halls as well. It was almost overdone, as though Alex was trying to prove a point.  _ You can put me in this house but you can’t keep me from making it mine. _

 

Alex came back, now wearing his usual jeans and pink and green flannel, “Sorry, I just couldn’t take the suit anymore,”

 

Magnus threw Alex a questioning look, and alex said “Would it answer your questions if I told you to use she her now?”

 

“I guess it would. Did that just, like, change when we walked in the door or something?”

 

Alex shook her head, “No. The suit started making me feel dysphoric about halfway through dinner, I just didn’t say anything,” she fiddled a bit with the sleeve of her shirt, “It’s kind of a pain in the ass when it does that, to be honest. Hence the mostly gender neutral wardrobe. But I guess that’s what I get for trying to look nice,” She laughed, apparently grasping the irony of the comment, considering one: As a model, “looking nice” was most of her job and two: Even putting that aside, she always looked spectacular (Though that part was more magnus’s opinion than anything else)

 

Magnus nodded, “Well, alright then. On another note, how about that tour?”

 

Alex’s house was huge. Enough guest rooms to house a 15th century english village, And enough kitchen space to feed twice as many. A full library, A swimming pool outside, Fireplaces in nearly every room, it was incredible. Not really Magnus’s style, but still incredible.

 

Incredible and empty.

 

They were sitting on one the couch in a liking room whose contents were probably worth more than every cent Magnus would make in his life when Magnus asked, “Where are your parents?”

 

“Houston, maybe? Arizona? Who knows. They like to vacation in warm cities in the winter time. I wouldn’t know exactly where they are, though, seeing as I haven’t spoken to them in… oh… five years?” Alex didn’t look at Magnus as she said this, choosing instead to focus on the ceiling fan.

 

Magnus wasn’t exactly sure how to respond to that. Alex spoke before he had to,

“Sorry, I guess that’s kind of a weird thing to say to someone without context,” She said.

 

“Yeah. Does that mean I’m going to get context?”

 

Alex smiled, “Absolutely not,” she said.

 

Magnus nodded. Alex sighed.

 

“Alright, I guess you told me your story or whatever, I’ll tell you mine,” She stood up, and held out a hand to Magnus, “Come on. We’re going on a walk,”

 

A walk, apparently, meant walking down the hall so that Alex could pace around the library as she told the story.

 

Alex cleared her throat, “So, much like your family, my family had connections. Unlike your family, however, my family’s connections were legal. Mostly. That’s a totally different story. Anyway, my family was one of those old money families that had their thumbs in every pie in the bakery,”

 

“Apparently including the crime pie,”

 

“Multiple crime pies,” Alex smirked, “ but that’s still not the point. The point is, my dad had connections with Mistletoe Modeling, and he also had this cute little baby boy, the tender age of 10 years old at this time, that he was just dying to exploit. So I was signed to a photoshoot. Then another. And a few more. Six months later, only a week or so after my 11th birthday, I realized this was going to become a regular thing, and I realized that I didn’t like it. Photoshoots were boring, the clothes were uncomfortable- I was, let me repeat myself, 11. I didn’t have any friends my age, didn’t have any say in what I did, I was sitting there with my hands behind my back watching my childhood be taken away from me. Not the most pleasant experience. To top it all off, this was right around the time I started to realize I wasn’t a boy- a few neat little google searches helped me with that one. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life in a suit, so I wasn’t going to,”

 

“You were wearing a suit less than an hour ago,” Magnus pointed out

 

“That’s different,” Alex said, “There’s a big difference between putting the suit on myself and having someone else force me into it. Anyway, I went to my manager here a Mistletoe, told him everything- told him I wanted friends my age, told him I didn’t want to spend all day in a studio anymore, told him I’d rather wear a dress on set than a suit, all of it. But he only paid attention to the last bit,” Alex took a deep breath.

 

She let it out, “I didn’t understand then, but my manager wanted publicity, and he wanted it from me. He thought having a transgender model- especially a transgender  _ child _ model- would get that publicity, and make him look like a kind and accepting soul, or whatever. Who cares about the danger you're putting the actual kid in by outing her to the whole world. So he told me I could wear a dress to my next shoot. And I did. And my dad was pissed. He exploded as soon as I stepped out of the dressing room. Told my manager he was “Poising his son” and whatever else kind of bullshit no eleven year old should have to hear and that I don’t really care to repeat. He left that day. Drove home without me. My manager may have been exploitive, but he wasn’t cruel, and he wasn’t an idiot. He didn’t make me go home with my dad. He let me stay with him for a few years, until I was fifteen and he gave me this place. He’s still my legal guardian, but I only ever see him at work,”

 

Alex was looking away from Magnus again, running her hand across the spines of books as she passed them.

 

Magnus really didn’t know what to say now. He went with the obvious- “Your dad sounds like an ass,”

 

Alex laughed, “He sure does,” She said. She turned to face Magnus, “Let’s change the topic- do you want cookies?”

 

“Cookies?” 

 

Alex nodded, “Cookies. I have cookie dough in the fridge, we could make some?” She offered

 

Magnus decided that sounded like a wonderful idea.

 

They spent more time eating raw dough than actually making cookies. “You shouldn’t eat raw dough, Magnus, you’ll get sick,” Alex had said, shoving an entire spoonful into her mouth with a straight face. Magnus laughed and kissed her cheek, before putting the cookie dough balls in the oven. They sat there, in Alex’s kitchen, talking and eating and occasionally kissing until Magnus got a text from Blitz at around midnight, asking where he was. Neither of them had realized how late it was. Alex offered to drive him home, and Magnus accepted. They put a few cookies into a ziplock bag for Blitz and Hearth, if nothing else to prove to them that Magnus’s “Sorry, we were making cookies and lost track of the time” excuse was totally valid.

  
When they were sitting outside of Magnus’s apartment building, Magnus asked if there would be another date like this one. Alex told him that she certainly hoped so, and that she had something planned that she’d be sure to tell him about tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry i updated so late, I've just been super busy all day lol! I really hope you guys liked this chapter! The next chapter will be up on the 8th, and it'll be the last one. I'm so happy about the kind responses to this fic, you guys are amazing! 
> 
> After I'm done with this last chapter I'm going to catch up on my other story (What if), and after that I'm going to start a new fic. This one will be pipabeth, theyna, and solangelo centric, and it will be a high fantasy au and, if my outline is to be trusted, it will be about three times as long as this one. it'll probably be a while before that's posted (I like to write ahead) but that's just a look into what's to come!


	9. Nine Worlds (Or: The End)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick before you read: There's a section near the end that's an interaction between two characters from Nine Worlds. You don't have to read that unless you want to, if you aren't interested in the Nine Worlds characters you can totally understand the rest of the story without reading that part.

Alex, Magnus, Sam, and Hearth were sitting in the lounge- Hearth and Sam were on break, Magnus didn’t work that day but he still stuck around to help, and Alex was just there to be there. 

 

“Hey,” Alex said, looking up from her nintendo DS, “Is Emily here?”

 

Magnus nodded.

 

Hearth frowned,  _ Emily won’t be able to help you with the game either, Alex _ , he signed

 

Alex nodded toward Hearth “I don’t know what you just said but i assume it was a smartass comment,” She said

 

Magnus nodded again, “You want me to translate?” He offered 

 

“Nah, I think I got the gist.,” Alex said, “Anyway, if Emily is here that means that Bitz doesn’t need to be at the front, right? Can we go get him? I need to tell you guys something, and he needs to be here”

 

Magnus got up off the couch, a little confused, “Yeah, I’ll go get him,” He said.

 

When he left, Alex looked over at Hearth. “You know I could understand you if you fingerspelled, right?” she said

 

_ T-a-k-e-s t-o-o l-o-n-g _ Hearth shrugged. Sam laughed.

 

When Magnus and Blitz walked back in and sat down, Alex hopped up and walked to the front of the room, “Alright! I assume you’re wondering why I brought you all here today...”

 

“Alex, that joke hasn’t been funny since 2012,” Sam interrupted

 

“That might be true! But I made it anyway and you can’t change the past. Anyway, I have a surprise for you guys. You all know about my show, Nine Worlds?” she waved her hands as she spoke, clapping by way of punctuation and nearly hitting the wall behind her every time she showed emphasis. Quite obviously, she was excited.

 

“Literally everyone knows about your show,” Magnus said.

 

“You guys need to stop interrupting me when I’m trying to do something cool,” Alex rolled her eyes, “Nine Worlds is starting filming for season 3 next month. I talked to my producers and managed to get all four of you a spot in the season premiere!”

 

The four of them were speechless.

 

“Sam and Hearth as extras- a valkyrie and an elf, if I’m not mistaken,”

Sam and hearth looked at each other, both obviously excited

“Blitz, The head costume designer would love to have you as a guest stylist!” Blitz‘s eyes widened in surprise and joy.

“And Magnus, you’ll be the only one with a speaking role- sorry, guys- You’ll be a student from another school that Reyes flirts with!”

 

Heath snorted at that,  _ kinda obvious, don’t you think? _

 

“He’s laughing at me. Why is he laughing at me?” Alex gestured at hearth

 

Magnus laughed, “He thinks my role is kinda on the nose,”

 

Alex nodded, “It is. It was my producer’s idea. But are you guys interested?”

 

“Yeah!” Magnus and Sam said at the same time. Magnus continues, “That sounds awesome!”

 

“Terrific! Filming starts one month from today!”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

A week later, Magnus got a phone call from Alex.

 

“I just realized something,” She said instead of ‘hello’, “Do you have any experience whatsoever in acting?”

 

“Not at all, no,” Magnus said. He was playing on the ps3, sitting on the livingroom floor even though the couch was empty. He had the phone stuck between his shoulder and his ear.

 

“None at all? Not even a school play? Nothing?” Alex sounded legitimately terrified.

 

Magnus thought for a moment, “Um… When I was in third grade we did a production of ‘The Little Red Hen,’ but I was just part of the corus. Does that count?”

 

Alex made a noise like she was trying not to groan, “The corus?”

 

“Yeah. Like in a greek play? The people who do the background singing and comment on the show so the audience doesn’t have to,”

 

“I know what the chorus is, Magnus,” Alex said

 

“You seemed confused,”

 

“I was concerned. I can’t believe my producer gave you this role without even finding out if you had experience!” she laughed

 

“Or consulting me on the subject,” Magnus noted.

 

“Honestly? He was just trying to cash in on our tabloid romance with your cameo,”

 

“I had figured,” Magnus said. He paused his game, “Hey, can I ask you a serious question?”

 

“If the past is any indication, then yes,”

 

“Why do you put up with that? Your producer, your manager… they sound so exploitive to me. How can you stand it?”

 

“Well, I have a contract with both of them, Magnus, It’s not like I can just walk away,”

 

“I guess…” It still didn’t make sense to him.

 

“And… It’s not that easy, magnus. It’s not black and white. My manager is my legal guardian, I told you. Nine Worlds, Mistletoe Modeling, they’re my means of survival. I don’t have any other option. It’s either put up with them or live on the streets,” 

 

Magnus thought about the fact that when he was given the choice between putting up with the uncle his mother had told him was horrible or living on the streets, he had chosen the streets without a second thought. But that didn’t mean that that was the right choice, did it? Or that Alex’s choice was wrong? “I guess that makes sense,” He said.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Reyes leaned against a wall, red solo cup in hand. She watched the party go on around her, but seemed totally uninterested in joining it herself. She was startled by a voice to her right, a young man played by Magnus Chase saying, “If you’re going to try to get me to join the party, it’s a lost cause, so don’t even try,”

 

Initially, Reyes jumped. She recovered quickly, though, “No issues there,” She turned her head to look at him, “It looks like we’re in the same boat in that regard,”

 

He laughed a little, and pushed some of his chin length blond hair out of his face before holding out a hand to shake, “My name’s Tyler,” He said, “I guess if we aren't going to be social with the rest of the party, we might as well talk to each other,”

 

Reyes looked at him for a second before accepting the handshake, “Reyes. I guess you’re right, Tyler,” She agreed. She looked him over again, “I don’t believe I’ve seen you around school before,” She noted

 

Tyler shrugged, “Probably because I don’t go to your school. You go to Erikson, Right? I go to Lovelace Academy,”

 

Reyes actually laughed out loud at that, “Lovelace Academy? The nerd school? What are you doing at an Erikson High party?” 

 

“A friend invited a friend who invited a friend who invited a friend who invited me, is the gist of it. And Lovelace isn’t a nerd school!” Tyler said

 

Reyes raised an eyebrow, “Oh really? It’s a magnet school for STEM fields, in what world is that not a nerd school?”

 

Tyler shrugged, “I guess you’re right. At least it’s not a freak school like Erikson is,” He noted

 

“Freak school?”

 

Tyler nodded, “I don’t know how you stand it there,” He said, matter-of-factly, “All that weird stuff going on there. And that girl that died a couple months ago? It’s crazy!”

 

Reyes looked away. Pari. It had been just over two months and still no one knew that Reyes was the one that killed her.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Tyler said

 

“No, no, It’s fine,”

 

“Did you know her?” He asked

 

Reyes nodded. Technically, she did. And she doubted he would ask her to go into any more detail than that.

 

Tyler was quick to change the subject, and Reyes couldn’t have been happier about it. He asked what this party was about, anyway. Reyes told him it was a going away party of sorts. A big group of kids from Erikson High, her included, were going on an exchange program to Sweden. After that, They talked and laughed for hours about everything under the sun, the shot changing from scene to scene in their conversation, showing snippets as time passed. Finally, Reyes turned completely to face Tyler, still leaning against the wall but only with her shoulder. Tyler did the same, facing her.

 

“Tyler,” She said, “Are you familiar with the idea that when people drink alcohol they make bad decisions?”

 

Tyler made a move like he was hiding his cup- it was still full, “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” He joked, “I’ve never drunk alcohol in my life, officer. What’s a booze?”

 

Reyes laughed, trying but failing to look mad, “You ruined it!” She said, “I had this amazing line and you ruined it with your joke!”

 

Tyler laughed, too, “Alright, I’m sorry, What was your line?”

 

Reyes leaned to set her still full cup down on an adjacent table, then settled back to the wall. She was a bit closer to Tyler now.

 

“I wanted you to say ‘Yes I am’, And then I would say, ‘well I haven’t had a thing to drink all night,’ and then I was going to lean into kiss you,” She said, “But you ruined it!”

 

“That sounds like a much better option than my shitty joke. Is that still on the table?”

 

“It most certainly is,”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Alex sat in full Loki costume with her feet kicked up on the vanity table in front of her. Magnus ws by her, with Blitz taking off his makeup for him. Sam sat a stool near Magnus. She was in valkyrie uniform. Hearth was getting his elf ears put on by a nice young lady named Inge, who was apparently Alex’s favorite stylist. She was also the only stylist there other than Blitz who knew asl.

 

“I can’t believe how many times the director made us retake that kissing scene!” Magnus said, “I mean, I can’t be  _ that _ bad!”

 

Alex laughed, “Don’t take it personal, Maggie. Stage kissing can be hard. You’re trying to make kissing look pretty, or sexy, or sweet, or whatever the scene calls for. That can be difficult, because in real life kissing is kind of…” Alex couldn’t think of the word.

 

“Gross?” Sam suggested.

 

Alex pointed at her, “There it is! Kissing looks gross! You don’t want that on camera,”

 

Magnus looked at sam, “How the hell would you know what kissing is like?” He asked

 

“I don’t,” She said, “But I know what it looks like. We go to the same high school, you know exactly what I’m talking about!” Kids making out in public school hallways between classes like they were never going to see eachother again or something. Magnus could see Alex’s point.

 

Alex looked over at Inge, “am I done with my makeup?” She asked.

 

Inge nodded, “You have 30 minutes before you need to be back on set, miss fierro,”

 

Alex turned and asked Blitz if she could borrow Magnus for a second.

 

“He’s got half a face of makeup, but I guess,”

 

“The makeup can wait. This is pretty time sensitive,” Alex explained, grabbing Magnus by the wrist and dragging him outside.

 

They sat on the concrete steps outside the studio, neither of them talking. Alex kept trying to start a sentence, but she would stop at the first syllable every time.

 

“What is it?” Magnus finally asked. He was terrified.

 

“I’m… The show…. It’s moving to Sweden. I’m leaving, Magnus. In three weeks I’m going to sweden and I won’t be back for six months,” She said, “I’m… Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner”

 

Magnus didn’t say anything for a long time. Finally, he whispered, “When did you find out?”

 

“A week before we met,” she said

 

Magnus looked at her in shock, “And you didn’t think to say something? Before we started a relationship? ‘Hey, by the way, I’m moving across the ocean in a couple months so maybe keep that in mind before you start falling in love with me,’?  Something?“

 

Alex looked up at him, “Are you falling in love with me?” she asked

 

Magnus stood up, kicking a rock as he did, “I don’t know! Maybe! Probably,” He looked at Alex, “Yes. I am,” Not really the ideal situation to have this conversation in, Magnus thought, “But you’re going to Sweden! Why didn’t you tell me?!” 

 

Alex stood up, too. She took his hand, “Because I didn’t want to ruin anything. Because I didn’t know this would turn into anything in the first place. But it did. God, it did. Because I thought if you knew I was just going to leave, anyway, you wouldn’t want to hang out with me. Because I made a stupid choice, and I’m sorry,” She said

 

Magnus ran his hands through his hair, “Why do you have to go? Why can’t they just film here and pretend it’s sweden?” 

 

Alex laughed, “Because boston isn’t Sweden,” She said

 

“It’s not Asguard, either, but you film scenes from Asgard here just fine!” Magnus was joking now, arguing for the sake of having something to say.

 

“Because Asgard isn’t real, Magnus!” Alex laughed, “we can’t just  _ go _ to Asgard! We’re going to Sweden because all the old stories take place there, it’s for the plot,” She said

 

“The vikings were a traveling people!” Magnus waved his free hand- the one that Alex wasn’t holding, “Maybe those stories took place in boston! Who’s to say?” 

 

“There’s not a single story about the norse gods that takes place in boston and you know it, Magnus,” Alex said, “I have to go,”

 

Magnus nodded. He was done joking, “I know. But this isn’t over, is it? I mean… We’re not over because of this, are we?”

 

Alex shook her head, “No, no, absolutely not. We can text, we can call, we can skype, everything. Plus, I have a feeling the director likes Tyler, I’m sure you’ll be invited to Sweden for a cameo at some point,” She smiled at him, “And in six months, I’ll be back. Only six months. We can do that, right?”

 

Magnus nodded. Of course he could.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Three months later, Magnus is invited to Sweden to reprise his role as Tyler- who had become Reyes’s long distance boyfriend in the show. Magnus and Blitz stayed in sweden for a week to shoot all his scenes.

 

Alex and Magnus walked through the streets of Stockholm holding hands for the first time in months. 

  
They were happy. They were together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so so so so much for reading this! I really hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> my next big project is going to be the fantasy au I mentioned in the last chapter, and it will require a fair bit of research, so it probably won't be on for a month or two, but I do already have the title and outline done, and I plan to start on the first chapter by the end of the week.

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to my beta, @gsnkhurray on tumblr!  
> 


End file.
